fireworks at Stone Mountain in Atlanta; Shutterstock ID 35528275; your: Bridget Brown; gl: 65050; netsuite: Online Editorial; full: POI Image Update

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Stone Mountain Park

Atlanta


In the northeast Atlanta suburb of Stone Mountain sits this unique – and controversial – theme park based around the 825ft-high Stone Mountain, the world's largest outcropping of exposed granite. It is best known for the huge carving of Confederate 'heroes' Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson and Robert E Lee (cue the controversial part), which took more than half a century to complete.

Regardless of its potent lack of political correctness (and sordid history with the Ku Klux Klan as well, which was revived here in 1915), the 3200-acre park is wildly popular with families, hikers and outdoor enthusiasts (you can scale the mountain) and tourists alike, especially for the world's largest laser-light show, which takes place in the evenings on Saturdays from April to May, daily from Memorial Weekend through early August, and Saturdays from August through October. It remains one of Atlanta's most unique and fascinating kitsch attractions. Other attractions in the park include camping, golf, fishing, a snow park, a cable car and museums, among others.